Whatever customers and suppliers may say publicly, outsourcing is still primarily about two things: minimising cost and maximising profit.

To this end suppliers work hard to take cost out of the supply chain and customers, under pressure to save money, take little interest in how services are actually delivered, except perhaps when quality suffers or charges start to rise.

On both sides, questions about social, ethical and environmental impact are rarely considered. So it is that working practices have developed which sometimes trade human and environmental welfare for financial gain.

To a degree, times are changing. Many customers now realise that failing to adhere to ethical working practices may impact negatively on corporate reputation and brand (for example where high-end consumer goods are produced using what is effectively slave labour, or where toxic waste from computer hardware ends up as landfill in Africa).

Suppliers too are beginning to understand the commercial necessity of doing business responsibly, ethically and sustainably.

There are three elements now commonly referred to in this context under the blanket term ‘sustainability’. ‘Environmental sustainability’ relates to things like reduction of greenhouse gases, disposal of waste and minimising the use of hazardous substances; ‘social sustainability’ deals in human and employment rights, for example through imposing minimum standards for the fair, humane and equitable treatment of workers in the global supply chain; ‘economic sustainability’ comprises requirements such as energy efficiency and recycling.

Where these issues are addressed in outsourcing contracts they are often grouped together, although they give rise to a range of different questions (and potential solutions).

Customers who are genuinely concerned about sustainability must build it into their procurement processes: starting with supplier selection, through any competitive tender exercise, the drafting of service requirements and, of course, the outsourcing contract itself. It is in the nature of outsourcing, particularly in the BPO sector, that customers have considerable scope to influence suppliers’ approaches to sustainability in the way they provide their services.

For those interested in further reading, the United Nations Global Compact is a good place to start.